


Tough Being a Model

by rhodrymavelyne



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 07:27:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4295910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto finds out that modeling for Sai is difficult. Not only does he have to sit still, but Sai teases him about Sasuke, flirting with him as he does. Or is he only teasing?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tough Being a Model

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place long before the Ninja War, sometime after the failed mission to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, using the information Sakura got from Sasori.

"You and your crush on Sasuke-kun!" Sai shook his head in amusement. Or not. It was hard to tell with Sai.

"What crush?" Naruto squirmed in his seat, already uncomfortable, and they were just beginning. 

Modelling for a portrait was hard. Sitting still was sheer torture. Naruto still wasn't sure why Sai wanted to paint him in the first place. Wouldn't Sakura-chan have been a much cuter subject? Although Sai refused to admit she was cute. Well, no one had ever accused the guy of being normal. 

Not that any of that had anything to do with the subject Sai, with his usual lack of social grace, had chosen to bring up. 

"It's not like I'm the only one. Everyone wants Sasuke; Sakura-chan, Ino, Neji, Gaara, Kakashi-sensei..." Naruto trailed off with a blush, as he realized the implications of what he was saying. "Um, I didn't mean it like that! Sasuke is popular with everyone, even though it took him a while to be popular with me."

All my life, Naruto thought, but didn't say out loud. 

"Which is why your love is stronger than anyone else's," Sai mused, almost to himself as much as to Naruto, as he applied his brush to the canvas before him. "Some of the people you mentioned; Neji, Ino, and the Kazekage don't seem to like Sasuke at all, at least not now. As for Sakura, she may care for Sasuke-kun, but she doesn't seem as devoted to him as you are."

"What?" Naruto let out a short bark of laughter. "You've got to be kidding. Back when we were on Team 7, all Sakura-chan ever did was go on and on about Sasuke! It was me who wasn't devoted."

"Maybe she went on and on about him back then," Sai said, pausing in his painting to observe Naruto with a steady eye. "I've never seen her do it myself, though. It's you who goes on and on about Sasuke-kun."

Naruto's mouth opened, then closed, as he stared at Sai. 

"In fact," Sai said, returning his attention to his canvas, "Most of the interest Neji, the Kazekage, and even Kakashi-sensei and Sakura show in Sasuke-kun these days is because you show it."

Naruto blinked. "What about Ino?" he asked stupidly, not sure how to respond to the comment. 

Sai smiled one of his completely meaningless smiles. "She seems far more interested in my butt than in talking about Sasuke-kun."

Naruto felt his face reddening. "Well, those are tight pants you wear," he mumbled, looking away.

"Want to borrow a pair?" Sai's smile didn't falter a bit. "You don't have much of a dick, but you do have a cute little ass. It's too bad I'm not painting you nude."

"Sai!" Naruto looked back at him, his face even redder. "Don't say stuff like that!"

"Why not?" Sai chuckled, as he looked at his model's increasingly scarlet complexion. "I'll bet there are some who would even commission such a painting. Maybe if that happened, you'd realize just how popular you are."

"I'm not..." Naruto trailed off, sobered by the serious note in Sai's teasing.

"Not as popular as Sasuke-kun?" Sai finished the sentence for him. He gave the blonde boy a long, intense look. "I read in a book that people respond to the way they're treated. This I know to be true, from dealing with Sakura and you."

"Sai..." Naruto found he couldn't look away. Something in his lower regions seemed to tighten. He was very glad he wasn't nude at the moment. 

"You care deeply about everyone," Sai said, gently. His eyes never left Naruto's, as he spoke. "Sooner or later, everyone is going to respond to that. Including Sasuke-kun." 

"Sai," Naruto murmured, not certain what to say. The look in Sai's eyes was a lot like something he used to glimpse in Sasuke's. It made his heart ache. It also increased the pressure in other parts of his body. 

How much of this is because I'm remembering Sasuke? Naruto wondered. How much of this is simply Sai?

Abruptly, the look vanished. Sai smiled one of his bright, fake smiles and the intensity was gone. 

"Aren't you glad you didn't pose nude, now?" he asked, teasingly. "I might have taken you and shown you, in a very physical way, just how popular you are!"

"Sai!" Naruto snapped, reddening again, yet oddly relieved. He felt as if he'd been let off the hook, though how, exactly, he wasn't sure.


End file.
